IBA’s career fair draws students in droves

Hundreds of enrolled students and graduates of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) flocked to the university’s Career Fair 2018 held at the IBA main campus in Karachi University on Monday.

It was a really well-attended affair with 78 stalls set up by various Pakistani and multinational companies and banks. During the whole day, according to a certain count, some 4,000 job seekers from IBA were said to have visited the fair and registered with various organisations for prospective employment.

Among the many reputed Pakistani and foreign organisations were Habib Bank Ltd, Allied Bank, Sindh Bank, Al-Baraka Bank; pharmaceutical companies Martin-Dow, Abbot and Novartis; and consultancy firms like Ernst & Young. These were just some of the 78 companies that had set up their stalls to provide information to job seekers and register them for potential employment.

Apart from the commercial and industrial concerns, organisations like elite schools had also set up their stalls. When the person manning a school stall was asked as to what use a business administration graduate would be to school teaching, he replied, “These personnel would be to look after the administration and business of the organisation.”

Moreover, a non-profit, the Network of Organisations Working for People with Disabilities, Pakistan (NOWPDP), a disability inclusion initiative, which is actively involved in empowering people with disabilities and helping them become productive members of society, also had a stall to their name at the fair.

When asked as to what a philanthropic, non-profit organisation had to do in the endeavour, the lady at the stall replied, “Every business administration graduate is required to complete a certain number of hours in social service, without remuneration. This is meant to make the graduates conscientious, service-oriented citizens.”